Wire splicing device

ABSTRACT

A DEVICE FOR TWISTING TOGETHER THE ENDS OF TWO PIECES OF RELATIVELY HEAVY WIRE AS IN REPAIRING BROKEN WIRES IN A FENCE. THE DEVICE COMPRISES A U-SHAPED SPRING METAL STRAP ON THE ENDS OF WHICH ARE MOUNTED A PAIR OF LOCKING WRENCHES. THE ENDS OF THE TWO WIRES TO BE TWISTED TOGETHER OR SPLICED ARE LOCKED IN THE JAWS OF BOTH WRENCHES IN OVERLAPPING SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION. A TOOL SUCH AS A MARLIN SPIKE IS THEN INSERTED BETWEEN THE WIRES, APPROXIMATELY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE WRENCH JAWS, AND ROTATED TO TWIST THE WIRES TOGETHER. AS THE TWISTING IS EFFECTED, THE LOCKING WRENCHES ARE DRAWN CLOSER TOGETHER WHICH CAUSES THE SPRING STRAP TO EXERT AN OPPOSITE, TENSION FORCE ON THE WIRES WHEREBY A VERY TIGHT UNION OF THE WIRES IS ACHIEVED.

Feb. 13, 1973 F. J. MARSHALL 3,716,079

WIRE SPLICING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. FRANK J. MARSHALL ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1973 F. J. MARSHALL 3,716,079

WIRE SPLICING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .INVENTOR.

' FRANK J. MARSHALL ATTORNEYS 3,716,079 WIRE SPLICING DEVICE Frank J. Marshall, Sullivan Road, RD. 2, Oneida, N.Y. 13421 Filed Sept. 20, 1971, Ser. No. 181,665 Int. Cl. B21f /04 U.S. Cl. 140-120 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for twisting together the ends of two pieces of relatively heavy wire as in repairing broken wires in a fence. The device comprises a U-shaped sprmg metal strap on the ends of which are mounted a pair of locking wrenches. The ends of the two wires to be twisted together or spliced are locked in the jaws of both wrenches in overlapping side-by-side relation. A tool such as a marlin spike is then inserted between the wires, approximately midway between the wrench aws, and rotated to twist the wires together. As the twisting is effected, the locking wrenches are drawn closer together which causes the spring strap to exert an opposite, tension force on the wires whereby a very tight union of the wires is achieved.

8 Claims BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to wire joining devices, and has particular reference to a novel wire twistingor splicing device which utilizes a pair of coactmg locking wrenches that are connected together by a spring metal strap.

Heretofore, special pliers of various designs have been developed for splicing fence wires or electrical power line wires. With a single pair of pliers it is often difficult to put enough tension on the wires to make asplice of the desired or required tightness. As a result, in many nstances more than one man is required to satisfactorily perform the task, or additional tensioning equipment must be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The wire splicing device of the invention utilizes a pair of locking wrenches that are securely connected together in a predetermined spaced relationship by a relatively heavy, U-shaped spring metal strap. The wrenches are secured to the free ends of the strap so that the wrench jaws extend out beyond the strap ends in opposite and substantially parallel relation to one another. This arrangement allows the ends of the two wires to be sphced to be locked in the jaws of both wrenches in an overlapping, side-by-side manner.

With the overlapping ends of the wires locked in the device as described, a tool such as a marlin spike is inserted between the wires, approximately midway between the wrench jaws, and then is rotated to twist the wires together. As the twisting occurs, the length of the wires between the two pairs of jaws decreases which draws the wrenches closer together against the spring force of the connecting strap. This causes the strap, acting through the wrenches, to exert an opposite force which puts the wires under increasingly heavy tension as the twisting progresses with the result that a very tight union of the wires is achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the wire splicing device of the invention with the ends of two wires to be spliced locked in the wrench jaws;

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 on completion of the splice;

United States Patent 0 ice FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device showing the manner in which the ends of a pair of wires can be drawn together for splicing;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the device after it has been rotated into horizontal position from the position shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the locking wrenches illustrating means for removably securing it to the spring metal strap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Having reference now to FIG. 1, the wire splicing device comprises a relatively heavy spring metal strap 10 to the ends of which are secured a pair of locking wrenches 12 and 14. Strap 10 is preferably made of spring steel and is U-shaped as shown with an arcuate portion 16 and straight leg portions 18a, 18b.

Locking wrenches 12, 14 are identical, and preferably are a modified form of a type sold commercially under the trademark Visegrip. Thus, in the wrenches employed in the device of the invention, the jaws have been altered so that they are substantially parallel to each other in closed position. These wrenches, through a toggle mechanism, can lock their grip on an object without the need for continuous manual pressure on the handles, and the pressure of the grip is many times greater than that obtainable with ordinary pliers. For a description of the mechanical details of this type of wrench, reference may be had to US. Pats. Nos. 2,280,005 and 2,514,130 issued respectively Apr. 14, 1942 to W. Petersen and July 4, 1950 to H. T. Jones.

Locking wrench 12 includes pivotally connected jaws 20 each of which has a handle connected to it. One of the handles 22 is usually referred to as the fixed handle while the other, 24, is called the movable handle. Similarly, wrench 14 has a pair of jaws 26 and fixed and movable handles 28, 30. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fixed handles 22 and 28 of the wrenches are secured as by welding to the outsides of the strap leg portions 18a, 18b in substantially parallel relation thereto. The wrenches extend beyond the strap ends for ready access to the wrench jaws which are disposed in opposite, spaced relation as shown.

In operation, the ends of the wires A and B to be spliced are positioned in an overlapping, side-by-side manner in the jaws 20 and 26 of the wrenches and the jaws are locked. Since the jaws are substantially parallel to each other in this position, both wires are securely gripped by each wrench as shown in FIG. 1. A suitable tool such as a marlin spike 32 or a very large nail is then inserted between the wires, approximately midway between the wrench jaws, and is rotated in either direction to twist the wires together as shown in FIG. 2.

As the twisting is effected, the length of the wires between the two wrenches decreases which draws the wrenches closer together against the spring force of the strap 10. This causes the strap, acting through the wrenches, to exert an opposite force on the wires putting them under increasingly heavy tension as the twisting progresses with the result that a very tight union of the wires is achieved. With the wrench jaws gripping the wire ends as described, one man can quickly make a tight splice by holding the portion 16 of the strap with one hand and rotating the marlin spike with the other. In this connection, it is contemplated that the work of the marlin spike could also be carried out by a third, separate locking wrench.

In tested embodiments of the invention, very satisfactory results have been obtained with devices in which the spacing between the wrench jaws is approximately 10 /2" and the distance from the front to the back of the device is approximately 10'', the latter distance being measured from a line joining the outer ends of the wrench jaws to the inside of strap 10 at its rearmost point.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the wires A and B are shown as having enough overlap to enable them to be gripped by the splicing device without difficulty. Frequently, however, with broken fence wires and power lines there is not enough overlap to simply lay the wire ends in the wrench jaws. In such cases, if there is slack in the line, the device can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 to draw the wires into overlapping relation by taking out slack.

In FIG. 3, the splicing device is initially engaged with the Wire ends while being held in the vertical position, i.e. with the main plane of the device vertical so that the wrenches are one above the other. One wire is locked in each of the wrench jaws 20, 26 with the wires passing through the jaws from the inside out as shown. After gripping the wire ends in this manner, the device is rotated approximately 90 in the counterclockwise direction as indicatel by arrows 34 in FIG. 3.

Rotation of the splicing device draws the wires C, D into overlapping relation as shown in FIG. 4 whereby a splice can be made as previously described. In order to ensure that the wires are brought into side-by-side relationship at the end of the rotation, and to maintain this relationship during splicing, wrenches 12, 14 are provided with wire alignment and retaining pins 36, one such pin projecting outwardly from the end of one of the jaws of each wrench as shown. When the wires are forcibly drawn into overlapping relation in the manner illustrated by FIGS. 3 and 4, they exert opposite forces (indicated by arrows 38) on the strap leg portions 18a, 18b which tends to draw them together against the spring force of strap 10 and results in a tight splice.

In repairing farm and ranch fences, it frequently happens that a sizable section of wire is missing which means that a new piece of wire must be spliced in. This can be done by locking an end of the old wire and an end of the new wire in overlapping relation in the splicing device and making a splice in the manner indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thereafter, the end of the other piece of old wire and the new wire at a point opposite are locked in the device in the manner shown in FIG. 3 and the device is rotated to take out any slack, after which the splice is completed.

From FIG. 2 it can be seen that when the wires are twisted together by a marlin spike or the like, an open loop or eye 40 will remain after the spike has been removed. This eye is in no way detrimental to the splice and can be advantageous in fences having vertical wires as it provides a convenient means for connecting the vertical and horizontal wires together.

FIG. illustrates a modified form of the invention wherein the locking wrenches, only one of which is shown at 42, are removably secured to the spring metal strap, a portion of which is shown in phantom lines at 44. To this end, the fixed wrench handle 46 is provided with a bracket 48 which is secured to the handle as by welding and receives the strap leg portion with a close sliding fit. After being assembled, further sliding movement between the parts is prevented by a roll pin 50 that is inserted in a bore 52 in the strap leg portion and a registering bore (not shown) in the wrench handle.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the invention provides a novel and very practical wire splicing device. As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.

I claim:

1. A wire splicing device comprising a substantially U- shaped spring metal strap, and a pair of locking wrenches respectively secured to the free ends of the strap, each wrench including a pair of pivotally connected jaws each of which has a handle connected thereto, one handle of each wrench being secured to an end of the strap so that the wrench jaws project outwardly therefrom.

2. A splicing device as defined in claim 1 wherein the wrenches are permanently secured to the strap ends.

3. A splicing device as defined in claim 1 wherein the wrenches are removably secured to the strap ends.

4. A splicing device as defined in claim 1 wherein one jaw of each wrench has a wire retaining pin secured thereto.

5. A wire splicing device comprising a substantially U-shaped spring metal strap having spaced leg portions connected by an arcuate portion, and a pair of locking wrenches respectively secured to the strap leg portions, each wrench including a pair of pivotally connected jaws each of which has an handle connected thereto, one handle of each wrench being secured to one of the strap leg portions in substantially parallel relation thereto, the two pairs of wrench jaws extending outwardly beyond the free ends of the leg portions so as to be disposed in opposite, spaced relation to each other.

6. A splicing device as defined in claim 5 wherein the wrenches are permanently secured to the strap leg portions.

7. A splicing device as defined in claim 5 wherein the wrenches are removably secured to the strap leg portions.

8. A splicing device as defined in claim 5 wherein one jaw of each wrench has a wire retaining pin secured thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,737,917 3/1956 Steele 26943 2,864,582 12/1958 Hall 254-51 3,205,918 9/1965 Jones 123.5

LOWELL A. LARSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

